February 1, 2017
JOHN WINTHROP AND OUR LEGACY
“We must be knit together, in this work, as one person. We must entertain each other in
familial affection. We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the
supply of others’ necessities.”
Our legacy in the Congregational church tradition and the city of Boston traces back to the
Puritans who created the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. It is a legacy of important
ideas and values that have proven difficult to realize.
“We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn
together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and
community in the work, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the
spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us.”
John Winthrop, one of the leaders of the time, expressed the ideals of this new community
of Puritans in an address that he gave aboard their ship, the Arbella. “A model of Christian
Charity,” quoted above and below, describes a colony that will seek to be governed by
God’s covenant. It will be, he says, a “city on a hill,” so that it may be an example to the
people back home in England. But, he warns, if they fail to model Christian charity, then
they have lost the center.
“Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck, and to provide for our posterity, is to follow the
counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God.”
They made many mistakes, and they were snared within the prejudices of their day, but
they founded a legacy – that’s us! – charged with the responsibility and freedom to do
better, by the grace of God.
Peace,
Rev. Dr. Matthew Wooster
Senior Minister